Current valid instruments that measure the signs of AD in clinical trials may not be suitable for clinical practice due to their complexity. The product of a clinician-derived 5-point signs global assessment and body surface area (SGAxBSA) may represent a simple approach to quickly assess the severity of signs in patients with AD in clinical practice.
Evaluate the basic measurement properties of the SGAxBSA.
Retrospective chart review of patients with AD seen in an outpatient dermatology clinic at Oregon Health & Science University from 2015-2018 who had a recorded BSA and SGA.
We identified 138 patients completing 325 clinic visits. SGAxBSA demonstrated strong and statistically significant (p<0.0001) correlations with the Eczema Area and Severity Index (r=0.91, n=19), average daily pruritus (r=0.71, n=177), patient global assessment (r=0.74, n=170), and a derived global scale comprised of the average of four signs rated between 0-3 (r=0.77, n=282). Acceptability, responsiveness and floor or ceiling effects of the measure were deemed adequate. Severity banding was maximized at 1, 21 and 87 (κ=0.4902).
The patient cohort was gathered exclusively from a tertiary care clinic setting in the pacific northwest, and lacked ethnic diversity.
The results from this study suggest that SGAxBSA is a valid and feasible instrument for AD signs in clinical practice.

Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier Inc.

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